With a double victory
at Hockenheim, Audi managed a successful start to the 2007 DTM season.
101,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) witnessed an impressive début
of the evolution Audi A4 DTM that was the quickest car on all three days
of the event. The Swede Mattias Ekström celebrated his tenth victory in
the DTM with a flawless race and perfect strategy of Audi Sport Team Abt
Sportsline. Martin Tomczyk (Germany) bumped Mercedes driver Bruno
Spengler from second place on the last lap to complete Audi's triumph.

For Audi, this was the first success on the current track layout of the
German Grand Prix circuit and the first victory at Hockenheim in exactly
five years. The double victory might even have turned into a triple
exploit of the Audi A4 DTM cars if it had not been for Bruno Spengler
hitting Timo Scheider's car after a driving mistake. The newcomer to
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline thus dropped to ninth place after the
crash in which he was not at fault, deprived of the reward for the
perfect race he had driven up to that point. Spengler later received a
50-second penalty for his action.

The round at Hockenheim was overshadowed by a serious accident on the
opening lap, which involved Audi drivers Tom Kristensen (Denmark),
Alexandre Prémat (France) and Adam Carroll (Great Britain). After slight
contact with another car, Kristensen had spun at the entrance to the
"Parabolica" and was then "torpedoed" at high speed by several
vehicles running behind him. While Carroll sustained no injuries in the
accident at all, Kristensen and Prémat required medical attention at the
site of the crash. Both drivers were subsequently taken to the trackside
Medical Center, and later to hospitals for thorough medical examinations.

Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen was found to have merely suffered
bruises, while Alexandre Prémat sustained a rupture of a lumbar
vertebrae, which, according to doctors, will not result in any permanent
damage, though. Nevertheless, the Frenchman will not be able to compete
for several weeks.

Both Audi drivers owe the fact that the accident did not lead to any more
serious consequences to the extremely high safety standard of the Audi A4
DTM. The safety cells of both cars remained intact. The frontal impact
suffered by Alexandre Prémat occurred at 158 kph.

More fortunate than for Carroll and Prémat was the way the DTM début went
for Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller, who brought their two Audi A4 DTM
cars home in positions eleven and twelve after duels with title defender
Bernd Schneider and two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Häkkinen.
Vanina Ickx finished the DTM opener as the best female contender in 15th
place. For Christian Abt, the race ended prematurely after body contact
with Bernd Schneider on lap five.

Quotes after the race

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "This was a day of extreme
downs and ups. After the accident, I was deeply worried about Tom
(Kristensen) and Alexandre (Prémat). That I was able to speak to both
drivers in the Medical Center shortly after the collision shows that the
DTM's safety concept works. Due to the serious nature of the accident
Tom and Alexandre were taken to hospitals for further checks. The entire
Audi team wishes Alexandre a quick recovery. The race today was marked by
superb strategy and a great job done by the team. And it showed how fast
our cars were here today. We were able to translate this speed into a
double victory - on a circuit that used to be firmly in the hands of
Mercedes so far. Apart from the accident at the beginning of the race,
it's been a great day for Audi."

Mattias Ekström 1st place:
"My car was simply the best today. The pit stops, too, were incredible.
I'm very happy about my tenth DTM victory and about the fact that the
accident in the beginning did not result in any more serious consequences
than it did. Fortunately, we were able to continue the race after it was
stopped. While I was following the others in the beginning of the race I
had a bit too much understeer. That's why I pitted earlier for the first
time in order to be able to have the track to myself. Because without
anyone in front, my A4 was perfect."

Martin Tomczyk 2nd place:
"That was an exciting weekend - in both a positive and a negative sense.
First, I'd like to wish Tom Kristensen and Alex Prémat all the best. I
hope they'll be with us again soon. The race was very tough, but the
outcome was the best possible one of all: a one-two victory for Audi! I
achieved my personal goal, although, without my braking error, perhaps I
might have even been able to win. But at least the man I prefer sharing
the podium with was all the way at the top. It's the best start to a
season one can imagine."

Timo Scheider 9th place:
"Basically, this was a good race. I gained one position at the start. And
after the race was restarted, my performance was good too. The strategy
was perfect: We stayed out for a long time to keep from having to return
to the track on new tyres in traffic. Towards the end I caught Martin
(Tomczyk), who was unable to pass Bruno (Spengler). Bruno made a mistake
while entering the Mercedes-Arena. He slid and was running wide, Martin
passed, and I followed. I was three fourths of a car length in front of
him, when Bruno simply hit me in the side and turned me around. I cannot
understand such an action. It's disappointing because today we could
have clinched a triple victory for Audi that would have been well
deserved."

Lucas Luhr 11th place:
"A turbulent race at the start to the season! After the accident we
started behind the safety car. The cars in front of me accelerated early,
and I lost a little bit of ground. After that, things were going well.
Only in the second sector I had too much understeer, was caught behind
Mike (Rockenfeller) and lost some downforce. The result isn't all that
great, but having started from position 19 you couldn't expect too much
either. But I learned a lot this weekend and will apply that on the track
in the upcoming races."

Mike Rockenfeller 12th place:
"Congratulations to Mattias, Martin and Audi on their good performance. A
one-two victory is a good way to kick off the season. I'm personally
disappointed as I started in eleventh place and lost some positions. It
was a very turbulent race as a result of the accident. The most important
thing is that both will be fit again. We need to look at what happened.
The race was pretty short, and that made everything a little chaotic.
I'm sorry about not having clinched a better result for the team."

Vanina Ickx 15th place:
"I'm very happy about Audi's double victory at Hockenheim at the
beginning of the year. A nice result for Mattias (Ekström), who was so
unlucky last year. He deserves this victory. I drove my own race and was
often alone on the circuit, which was also due to the fact that because
of the accident I dropped to the back of the field before the race was
re-started. The important thing, though, is that the accident did not
have really serious consequences for any of those who were involved."

Christian Abt Retired (collision):
"I advanced from 15th place to tenth - everything was going according to
plan. But then Bernd Schneider thwarted my plans. After our contact, a
wishbone at the right-hand rear suspension broke. Too bad, today, we
could have scored points. We'll clinch them next time, though."

Tom Kristensen Retired (accident):
"Many thanks for all the good wishes I received this afternoon. I'm
fine, only my head is hurting quite a bit. Of course the fact that our
cars are so safe paid off yet again. Naturally, my congratulations go to
Eki, Martin and the whole team on the double victory. But the most
important thing now is for Alex to get well again soon."

Alexandre Prémat Retired (accident):
"That was a serious accident, and I'm happy that the Audi A4 DTM is such
a safe car. I'm hoping to be fit again soon."

Adam Carroll Retired (accident):
"A short race! It's very disappointing to lose several cars so early -
both for Audi and for our team. The start was good, and I managed to pass
a few cars. Suddenly, though, I saw nothing but white smoke in front of
me after Tom (Kristensen) spun. I wanted to get past the scene but then
Alexandre (Prémat), who had to evade the incident as well, moved over,
and we crashed."

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): "A double
victory at Hockenheim is a huge success. We've been waiting for this for
many years. I'm just as happy, though, about the act that Tom
(Kristensen) came out of the accident with minor injuries and hope that
Alexandre will be with us again as soon as possible too. My thanks go to
the team and every member for the good job they did. I don't mind things
continuing this way. We worked very hard for this and reaped the success
in the Mercedes stronghold."

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): "Right on the first
lap we lost Alexandre's (Prémat) car. Then, when Christian (Abt) retired
as well, it was the most disappointing result you could imagine. That's
frustrating although in the practice sessions we showed what would have
been possible for us. We can build on this, and now we know what we have
to do with the tyres. For Audi Sport Team Phoenix, the result was too
bad, but for Audi, the one-two victory was great. We're happy that the
accident didn't have more serious consequences for Alexandre and Tom."

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): "Congratulations to
Audi. A double victory at Hockenheim is an incredible exploit - I'm
overjoyed. Our own weekend didn't go quite as well: We did finish the
race with both cars, but not in the positions we'd been shooting for.
There's still more work for us to do."